Is the Stuff You Own Causing Harm?

I am on a journey to simplify our home by decreasing the amount of things we own. I still have a long way to go, but I am working on it! We have way more possessions taking up space in our house than our family of five needs. We have boxes of things in our storage room and garage that have not been opened in years. In fact, I don’t even know the contents of most of these boxes. We also have way more clothes and shoes than necessary. And SO MANY TOYS!

There is a lot of talk these days about minimalism and living with fewer belongings. Those who live this simpler lifestyle say that with less stuff comes more happiness and freedom. With fewer possessions, a person can put their time and energy in other places rather than their stuff. Instead of having the goal of obtaining more and more possessions, the goal is to live a contented life with only what is necessary and purposeful. Many times this involves getting rid of belongings that do not line up with this way of living.

I have been living in “just in case” mode for most of my life. I keep things because I may need them in the future. This has caused a build-up of stuff in our home. This stuff that I thought would be helpful to have has actually caused more harm than good.

How Can Stuff Cause Harm?

Accepting that your possessions could be causing harm in your home could be difficult. If you love and are attached to the things you own it’s hard to believe they could be anything but good. But having too many belongings in your home can be harmful for a few different reasons.

No. 1

First, too much stuff can cause physical harm. I have an example of this from just last week. We had way too many shoes piled up in one area of our home. We own more shoes than we need and most of them had ended up laying around our kitchen. Our middle son came running from the living room into our kitchen and didn’t see a pair of shoes on the floor and tripped. He crashed onto our hard wood floor, landing on his chin. He cried for quite some time and ended up with a big black-and-blue bruise. Thankfully there was no blood, but a fall like that could have easily caused a big gash and a need for stitches.

Belongings can cause bodily harm when strung around, stacked up or shoved into places haphazardly. When you have more stuff than you have room for, it is more likely to hurt you by falling over on you, causing you to trip, etc. Which brings up the next point – organization.

No. 2

Possessions can cause harm when you are not able to organize because you have too much. For example, If we owned less shoes, we would more easily be able to organize them and there would be much less of a risk of someone tripping over them. Not being organized can also be harmful because you aren’t able to maximize the use of each of your belongings. Which in turn causes stress. This stress can come from not being able to find what you need when you need it. Stress can also come from the lack of peace and relaxation you may feel when your surroundings are cluttered, causing overwhelm and dissatisfaction.

NO. 3

Speaking of not being able to find what you need, the third way too many possessions cause harm is to your pocketbook. It costs way more money to be overrun with things and unorganized than to have fewer belongings that are all put in place. Remember when I told you I like to keep stuff just in case I may need it in the future? Well, I’ve realized it does me no good to keep things when I don’t know where they are when I need them. I end up spending money to replace an item I already had “somewhere” but couldn’t find. This is so ridiculous! Lessening the number of things in my home makes it so much easier to find what I need. When our belongings are organized we save money by not buying things we already have.

No. 4

Too many belongings can be harmful because they will rob you of your time. For example, let’s say a family has two kids and each kid is allowed to own fifteen toys. When the kids play and dump out all their toys, they make a mess of thirty toys. As play time ends and they each put away their fifteen toys, it will take about five minutes until their play area is picked up. If those same two kids are allowed an unlimited amount of toys, they could end up owning hundreds of toys (I’m not kidding)! When hundreds of toys get dumped out on the floor, it could take well over an hour to pick up and put away the mess. Here’s the kicker – kids don’t need hundreds of toys because they most likely won’t play with all of them anyway. Which turns into wasted time picking up toys that only get dumped and hardly played with.

No. 5

Lastly, too many possessions can be harmful if you value them more than you value other people. Yes, it’s true. Sometimes we can love our stuff so much that we hold belongings in higher esteem than relationships with those around us. If arguments, hurt and strained relationships are being caused by the amount of stuff in your home, it is time to reevaluate what is most important. There are no material things on this earth that are worth more than the people in your life. If showing others that they are the top priority requires getting rid of some of your belongings, then start downsizing your stuff today!

It’s Too Hard to Get Rid of Stuff

You may really like the stuff you own. I like the stuff I own, too. The transition to a simpler home with less belongings is not always easy. But, minimizing your possessions to only things you need and use can be so freeing. You can quit harming yourself and those around you when you get rid of the things you don’t need. Imagine no longer tripping over things lying around, not feeling stressed due to lack of organization, not spending unnecessary money, not wasting time on your possessions and healing broken relationships.

It can be a long process getting to a simpler home filled with less things. It is okay to take it slowly and start small. One of the biggest obstacles to overcome is believing there is a need to have fewer things and believing it’s okay to get rid of the things you own. If you have a large number of items you know need to go, just start somewhere. Maybe its cleaning out one drawer or one cabinet. Maybe it’s donating the contents of one box. Or you could possibly have a big yard sale and get rid of a bunch of stuff in a few days. However you do it, just do it and know it will take time.

Where are you?

I am still a long way from where I want to be on my journey to simplifying the stuff in our home. But, little by little, I know I will achieve my goals. Remembering the ways my stuff can cause harm will help get me where I want to be! Wherever you are in your journey, would you let me know in the comments? Whether you have already accomplished all your goals of simplifying or you haven’t yet taken that first step, I would love to hear from you!